Moodysson’s “Mammoth” to Open AFI EU Showcase

Moodysson's "Mammoth" to Open AFI EU Showcase

The 2009 AFI European Union Film Showcase has unveiled a slate of 39 films representing 25 countries. The showcase will kick off November 5 in Washington DC with Swedish director Lukas Moodysson’s first English language film, “Mammoth,” starring Michelle Williams and Gael García Bernal.

Other Special Presentations in this year’s AFI EU Film Showcase include three Centerpiece Screenings: Niels Arden Oplev’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” which is now the all-time box office champ in Sweden, “Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno,” directed by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea, and Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” The festival will close on November 24 with a screening of Jean-Marc Vallée’s “The Yong Victoria,” starring Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria.

“This year’s lineup, our largest ever, is a testament to the overall quality and amazing diversity of filmmaking in Europe right now,” said Todd Hitchcock, Film Programmer of hte AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in a statement. “Audiences will also discover terrific new films from major filmmakers like Andrzej Wajda, Peter Greenaway, and Terry Gilliam, plus newer talents whose work has been acclaimed at film festivals this year, like Germany’s Maren Ade (‘Everyone Else’) and Romania’s Corneliu Porumbulai (‘Police, Adjective’).” [And Lauer]